People with HIV who gain weight shortly after starting antiretroviral therapy (ART) may have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes, according to findings from the D:A:D study presented this week at the 20th International AIDS Conference in Melbourne, Australia.

Reactivation of hepatitis C was common among HIV positive people with lymphoma, but did not appear to lead to worse outcomes or decreased survival, according to a study presented at the 50th American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting this week in Chicago. A related study found that having central nervous system involvement at the time of diagnosis did not decrease survival of people with AIDS-related lymphoma.

High-grade anal dysplasia is common among gay men living with HIV, but it often resolves spontaneously and routine treatment may not be beneficial, according to results from the Australian SPANC study presented this week at the 20th International AIDS Conference in Melbourne.

People with HIV who started first-line treatment with a regimen containing rilpivirine (Edurant, also in the Complera coformulation) had smaller blood lipid increases and were less likely to have abnormal levels than those who started on efavirenz (Sustiva, also in the Atripla coformulation), according to 2-year data from the ECHO and THRIVE trials published in the April 11 online edition of Clinical Infectious Diseases.

HIV positive people with lung cancer are diagnosed at a younger age and have shorter survival than HIV negative people, on average, suggesting that screening should perhaps be started earlier, according to studies presented at the 50th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) this month in Chicago.

Being HIV positive was associated with a nearly 3-fold greater likelihood of bone fractures overall -- and a 9-fold higher risk of hip and spine fractures -- compared with HIV negative people, according to results from a large Danish population study described in the May 1 Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes.

People with HIV appeared to have a higher overall rate of cancer in a large Danish study, but the difference was only significant for malignancies caused by smoking or other viruses, including lung cancer, anal cancer, and liver cancer. A related U.S. study found the rate of prostate cancer was actually lower among HIV positive men.

People with HIV -- especially those with light skin -- continue to have a significantly increased risk of developing melanoma in the era of highly effective antiretroviral therapy, and should protect themselves from the sun, according to a meta-analysis published in the April 16 edition of the open-access journal PLoS ONE.